Jewelry.



J. W. MAYER.

JEWELRY.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 27, 1909.

Patented Nov. 19, 1912.

w i/twc $31001 JOSHUA W. MAYER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

JEWELRY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed September 27, 1909. Serial No. 519,748.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSHUA W. MAYER, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city of New York, borough of Manhattan, in the county and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Jewelry, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, and exact specifica tion.

This invention relates to improvements in jewelry, and the same has for its object the provision of means whereby the appearance or color efi'ect of-an article of jewelry may be varied, so that a person wearing said article of jewelry may adapt it to harmonize with the appearance or color of the article of apparel, such as a gown, in connection with which it is to be worn.

The invention is applicable to plaques, brooches, brooch pins, lavaliers, scarf pins, lockets, and all analogous articles of jewelry.

The invention is more particularly adapted for use in connection with .articles of jewelry of the kinds specified, having a filigree or open-work mounting, which is studded, aved or set with gems or precious stones. n all articles of jewelry of th s character, the open-work mounting of filigree portion is usually studded w1th precious stones and constitutes the more valuable part of the article of jewelry, and the ornamentation or the design of said valuable part is usually fixed and unvarymg. Therefore, no change, as the adapting of the mounting and its setting to one requirement or the other, can be made in such articles of jewelry.

Where the article is set with diamonds, for example, these usually harmonize with almost any color of apparel or garment with which the article of jewelry may be worn, but where the backing has a permanentl distinctive color, which is visible throng the openings of the mounting or filigree portion, this color will not always harmonize with or suit the article of apparel or garment with which the jewelry is to be worn, and the colors often clash.

The invention, therefore, has for one of its ob'ects to provide an article of'jewelry in which the backing, usually having a distinctive color, which is visible through the openings of the filigree mounting for the diamonds or other precious stones, can be readily replaced by a backing having a different appearance or color, in order that the article as a whole may be made to bar nionize with a number of articles of apparel or garments with which it is to be worn.

Another object of the invention is to provide the valuable portion of an article of jewelry, which portion consists of the mounting or filigree portion, and the gems or stones thereon, with a rear recess adapted to receive any one of a set of backing disks or plates provided with enamels of different colors upon their front surfaces which are exposed through the openings of the mounting; that is to say, each article of jewelry will have for use therewith a lurality or set of plates or disks comprising, for example, a red one, a green one, an orange one, a white one, a blue one, or any combination or variation of colors, any one of which plates or disks may be inserted at will in the said recess and secured in position therein; so that the color can be seen through the openings of the mounting.

A further object of the invention is to enhance the artistic color effect of an article of jewelry by ornamenting the visible faces of such a set of backings or a single backing with engine turnings or with chasing Patented Nov. 19, 1912.

and coating each backing with a more or less trans arent or translucent enamel or glazlng o a different or distlnctive color,

rom any of the' others of said set; but the said colored coating may also be opaque.

A still further object of the invention is to provide means for detachably securing the bac-kings to the mounting or filigree portion of the article of jewelry, and for looking the same thereto against accidental detachment. a

Further objects of the invention are to provide a characteristically ornate article of ewelry which shall be thoroughly practical and efficient in use.

These being some of the objects in view, my invention consists in certain novel features of construction, and in the combination, connection and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter described, and then claimed, with reference to the accompanying drawings showing a desirable form of the invention, and in which Figure l is a face view showing one form of article of jewelry embodying said invention; Fig. 2 is a transverse section thereof on line 2-2, Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a transverse section through the separated parts, that is to say, the mounting or filigree portion and the back therefor, showing the same in separated position ready for assemblage; Flg. 4 is a back view showing the backing locked to the mounting or filigree ortion; and Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail view showing the means for locking the backing to the mounting or filigree portion, the parts being shown unlocked.

Referring to the drawings, the mounting or filigree portion 10, provided with openings 11 so as to form an open-work member, is composed of any suitable material, usu ally metal, and of any desired form and ornamentation or design according to the nature of the article of jewelry. The said mounting or filigree portion is studded, paved or set in the usual or any desired manner, with gems, precious stones, pieces of enamel or any other desired setting 12,

although it will be obvious that the invention is not restricted to the use of settings at all.

The back of the open-work mounting or filigree portion 10 is provided with a recess 13, from which said openings 11 extend, and is preferably of circular form so that the said open-work mounting or filigree port on has an annular rim 14. Located upon the back of the open-work mounting or filigree portion 10, at the center of the recess 13, is a stud or pin 15, preferably of a length slightly greater than the width of the flange 14. This stud or pin 15 is preferably provided with a screw thread 16, said thread extending to the outer end of the stud.

The recess 13, in the back of the openwork mountin or filigree portion 10, is ada ted to receive a removable backing comprismg a disk orplate 17 of circular outline to conform to and fit snugly within the annular flange 14. To the end that the said backing 17 may be secured or centered in the recess 13, the same is provided wit-hv a screwthreaded central opening 18, which receives the threaded stud or pin 15. The said backing is also provided with means such as projections or lugs 19, 19, upon its rear surface for facilitating the screwing and unscrewing of the backing upon and from thestud 15. The said backing is preferably thin enough so that when it is screwed home it is countersunk within the back. of the open-work lnountin or filigree portion 10. In addition to tlie, screw-connection there is preferably provided means for locking the said backing 17 against accidental release or detachment from the open-work mounting, the same consisting of a snap fastening comprising a catch or spring-detent 20 secured to the rim or flange 14 and having a locking pin 21, and provided with a. finger-portion 24 to permit of said detent or catch'20 being moved into a recess 22 in the rim 14 to disengage the catch pin 21 from a peripheral notch 23 in the backing 17, as shown in detail in Fig. 5. It is obvious that in securing the backin to the open-work mounting, t e pin 21 will automatically snap into engagement with the recess 23 when the backing is rotated far enough to register the said recess with said pin.

' The main reason for the provision of a removable backing such as 17 is to permit another backing having a different appearance or color to be substituted. As before stated the substitution of one backing for another in an article of jewelry is desirable when the color which appears through the openings of the filigree portion is required to harmonize with the color of an article of apparel. In other words, it is desirable to have a variable back-ground. There will, therefore, usually be provided in connection with an open-work mounting or filigree portion constructed in accordance with this invention, a set or plurality of backings in the form of disks or plates having different colors upon those faces which would be visible through the openings of the filigree portion. The effect which is desired to appear through the openings of the filigree portion is preferably obtained by applying a coating 25 of glass or enamel to the exposed face of the backing, said glass or enamel being colored, and the color on any given backin of a set of backings to be used with the article of jewelry to be different from the colors of the other backings of the set. The coating 24: is preferably transparent or translucent so that suitable engine work or chasing upon the exposed face of the backing may be visible through the coating and through the openings through which the coating can be seen. 4

Obviously the invention is not restricted to the construction shown and described, as the invention is susceptible of modification, as for instance, the gems or stones may be omitted, the backing may have a different construction or appearance, and the construction of the combined parts may likewise be different, and parts may be added or omitted without changing the broad aspect of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,

1. An article of jewelry comprising a filigree or open-work face-member, the closed portions whereof form a mounting to receive gems or other ornaments and the 0 en portions serving for the display of an ob ect located to the rear of the face-member, a detachable back-plate covering the open portions from the rear of the face-member and having a face of a distinctive contrast with the outer surface of the closed portions of the face-member and adapted to be displayed through the openings of the facemember, and means for separably connecting together the open-Work face member and back-plate to adapt the back-plate to be removed and replaced by another carrying a different object for display through the open-work face-member substantially as described.

2. An article of jewelry comprising a filigree or open-work face-member, the closed portions whereof form a mounting to receive gems or other ornaments and the open portions serving for the, display of an object located to the rear of the face-member, said face-memberhaving a rearwardly extending flange to form a recess at the rear of the member, a detachable back-p1ate conforming to said recess and covering the open portions from the rear of the face-member, and having a face of a distinctive contrast with the outer surface of the closed portions ,of the face-plate member to be displayed through the openings of the facemember, and means for separably connecting together the open-work face-member and back-plate to adapt the back-plate to be removed and replaced b another carrying a different object for displa through the open-work face-member, su stantia 1y as described.

3. An article of jewelry, comprising a filigree or open-Work portion forming a mounting having an annular flange or rim thereon, a separate removable back having a recess in its edge and located Within said flange and exposed through the openings of said mounting, and a spring catch provided with operating means and located in said flange, and adapted to engage the recess in said back, substantially as specified.

Signed at the city of New York, in the county and State of New York, this 24th day of September, ,nineteen hundred and nine.

J OS HUA W. MAYER. Witnesses:

F. DUNN, MAE A. OANNING. 

